Catharsis
by Dr. Jekyl
Summary: Freshly rescued from the new Brother Blood, Raven finds that the struggle to adjust to her third incarnation is just beginning.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first crack at writing for the comic Titans. I've been a bit reluctant to do so because, frankly, I'm not sure how good my grasp on them (particularly the W/P Titans) is. I came into the fandom via the cartoon, and back issues are hard to come by in my neck of the woods, alas. But then I had some ideas for filling in some overlooked issues and mysteries from Geoff Johns' run that wouldn't leave me alone, and thought I might give it a shot. Anyway, let me know what you think - I appreciate concrit, particularly with regards to characterisation on this one.

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**Catharsis**

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"Raven?"

Koriand'r entered the almost bare room with an ill-fitting hesitation, an armful of clothing carried before her like a shield. She'd knocked twice already and gotten no answer, leading her to fear that her empathic friend may have done something stupid - like leave them. The sound of running water and wisps of escaping steam, therefore, came as something of a relief: the shower.

She made her way over to the bathroom and, again, found herself hesitating before entering, or even knocking. She wasn't entirely sure which Raven she was going to be dealing with. Once upon a time, Raven had been so shy and retiring that it was astonishing just to see her wearing something other than her all-concealing cloak; once upon a time, too, she'd swum naked with Kory under a hot Tahitian sun. Were this Raven the former, her presence here would not be welcomed; the latter, and she may as well just head on in to the steam-filled room.

Of course, this Raven could be someone completely different altogether.

She heard the shower shut off and, neatly solving her momentary dilemma, Raven emerged from the bathroom. Still dripping and clad only in a fluffy beige towel, her visible skin was too pink, as if she'd been scrubbing it raw. Koriand'r knew with sudden insight that she had been.

"_Hello, Koriand'r_," Raven said softly, not quite meeting the taller alien's eyes.

"I knocked," she said, feeling a sudden need to defend her presence, "but I didn't get an answer. I was-"

"_You were worried that I had spurned your offer of help and home and fled_," Raven supplied. "_I promise, I have no such plans_... _not now, at any rate_."

She looked up, holding Kory's gaze, as if trying to convey her honesty Her eyes were purple now, not the vivid blue Kory remembered, but they still had that same strange intense quality to them, as if she were looking into your head and reading what was written there. Once upon a time it had been disquieting, even disconcerting, but Kory had long ago learned to ignore it. It was just the way Raven was.

"_And you need not fear intruding either_," the empath continued shyly, eyes downcast again. "_You are one person whose presence I will always welcome_."

"I'm glad to hear that," Kory said, and knew this to be true. She was glad, despite everything that had happened to and between them, to have one of her dearest friends back in the flesh. She pushed her former uncertainty firmly aside and focused on that feeling of pleasure, knowing the empath would pick up on both. On further impulse, she dropped her burden of borrowed clothing to pull the comparatively slight girl into a hug. "And I'm even happier to have you back."

She could feel Raven's surprise, a sudden tenseness at the contact that relaxed moments later as she leaned into the hug, head coming to rest against the much taller alien's shoulder.

"_It is... good to be with the Titans again_."

Kory frowned, looking down at the top of the startlingly bald head. With Raven, you often had to listen to what she wasn't saying just as much as you did to what she was. She almost never outright _lied_, oh, not Raven, but she'd never had any compunction about indulging in the sin of omission.

"But not good to be back?"

"_It is too soon to say_," Raven sighed. Her next comment was almost wry: "_It has certainly not gotten off to a very good start_."

Forcibly re-incarnated? Held captive for who-knew-how-long by a psychotic teenage cultist? Who wanted to 'marry' her, impregnate her and then use her to kick-start the end of the world? No, not the best of beginnings, Kory had to agree, but they'd had a talk, she and Vic and Gar, not even half an hour before. Raven was not to be allowed to brood too much. The damnable priests and priestesses of Azarath who'd raised her, for their sins, had gifted the gentle empath with nothing so much as a terrible sense of self-loathing, coupled with a deep-seated belief that she was unworthy of friendship or affection. Left alone with her doubts, Raven tended to spiral ever inwards, a situation which rarely led to good outcomes. With the Titans she was to be made to feel as welcome and secure as possible. And she needed to be kept occupied, at least until the initial shock had worn off.

"But it's improving, right?" she suggested gently.

"_Well, yes_," Raven conceded, pulling away. As she stepped back, her feet tangled in the clothing the taller woman had unceremoniously dropped seconds before. She looked up quizzically.

"Cassie - Wonder Girl - said you could borrow some of her clothes until we get a chance to go shopping and get your old gear out of storage," Kory began. "I picked out some things that I thought you might like."

There wasn't a lot. Well, truth be told, there wasn't anything, not really. Raven had never been very keen on western clothes in general and pants in particular, and Cassie was still something of a tomboy who probably didn't own a skirt that hadn't been bought for her by someone else. Kory had even considered about going through her own, mammoth wardrobe, but her mental review had come up equally short – or long, rather, as she was certain the few items Raven might appreciate were miles too large for her current frame. Perhaps they'd do for sleeping attire?

"She had some jeans that looked about your size," she continued, scooping them and the other items off the floor and holding them out, one by one. Raven eyed the denim dubiously, but accepted the pair anyway, along with the t-shirts, underclothes and pyjamas, all in muted colours, that followed. The blue hoodie was met with slightly more pleasure, as she'd suspected it would be - it was even the right shade of blue, almost. The final item though-

"And Bart - Kid Flash - donated this."

Clutching the other items to her towel-covered chest, Raven eyed the beanie with something that could only be described as suspicion.

"It can get cold here in the mornings," Kory prompted, still holding the item out. "And since you're currently..." she gestured towards Raven's bald head, trailing off as Raven reached up to gingerly touch her scalp, an unnameable but decidedly dark expression flickering across her face.

"_Please thank him for me_," the empath said after a moment, voice exactingly level, "_but that is_-"

"Not 'you', huh?"

"... _yes_."

There fell one of those awkward, chilly silences that Raven - the old Raven - could be so very good at, and Koriand'r suddenly found herself again remembering the days they'd spent together in Tahiti. It seemed like it had been several lifetimes ago, not just a handful of years. Raven had been so happy then, and open, and they'd talked for so long, shared so much... However, conflicted she might be about what had happened after that, the destruction of her world by an evil version of this woman, to see her friend withdrawing back into herself this way was painful. Hopefully it was only temporary, a reaction to her captivity and the shock of being made corporeal again.

Raven looked away, staring out of the window.

"_I... cannot afford to be as I once was_," she said and Kory wondered, not for the first time, if she could read minds as well as hearts. "_It is dangerous again_."

"Dangerous? How?"

Raven moved now, turning away completely, and started towards the bed.

"_I told you all that my dark side has been re-awakened_," she said, starting to lay the clothes out there with military precision, her voice cool and distant - the old Raven, once more, "_and that is true. That is one danger. I told you, too, that I must re-learn the extent of my abilities. I fear that my ability to influence the emotions of others - consciously or otherwise - has increased. If I feel too strongly, I may make others feel what I feel, without meaning to do so. Another danger. Sebastian used my terror and despair to instil fear in his followers_."

Finished layout everything out, Raven glanced over her shoulder, giving the Tamaranean a significant look. Kory sighed inwardly, but took the hint and turned around, back to the other woman. She heard the towel hit the floor, followed by the whisper of cloth.

"_Finally_," Raven continued, much more slowly, "_I am not certain if it is an effect of the ritual used to bind me to this body, or if there is some other, hidden cause, but there is a... hunger... in me now_."

"Hunger?" That didn't sound good. "For what?"

"_Emotion. I feel your concern for me, and your affection_," she said, voice starting to waver slightly, "_and a part of me wants nothing more than... nothing more than to take it from you. Consume it. Fear and anger, sorrow, distress, anguish - they call to me even more strongly. They _feed_ me, make me stronger. There is a temptation to nurture those feelings in others, bring them to full flower and then harvest them_." A slight sigh. "_Another danger_."

"What will you do?"

"_I will not go back to the way I was when you first met me. I could not tolerate it, not now. But I must remain in control_."

Koriand'r heard the bed clink as Raven sat down on it with a heavy sigh, and took this as a sign that she could turn back around. She found Raven sitting on the edge of the bed watching her, her lost, even overwhelmed expression emphasised by the overlarge clothing that looked alien on her frame.

"_I'm tired of being a victim, Kory_," she said, her voice little more than a whisper. "_I'm tired of being hurt, and being used to hurt others, and of prophecies and cults and small-minded fools who want the world to end because they suffer imagined slights, and of all the things I must or must not do or be or feel._"

Kory took up a seat on bed beside her, and put her arm around the other woman's shoulders. Raven trembled under her touch, eyes squeezing tightly shut.

"You could fight," she offered gently. They'd had this debate before, exploring the diametrically opposed philosophies of their home societies. Tamaranean culture was a warrior culture. Azarath, on the other hand...

"_Fighting goes against everything I was raised to believe in_," Raven replied softly, but without her usual conviction. Kory looked down at her in astonishment. The gentle empath abhorred violence, to the point of refusing to learn even self-defense, and not just because she literally felt the pain of others.

Sensing her shock, Raven's lips quirked upwards in a fleeting, bitter smile, and, eyes slipping back open, she looked away, out the window once more.

"_I've had a great deal of time to think of late_," she continued. "_Not everything I was taught as a child was right. Does hurt only ever beget hurt, or can the cycle be broken? What is the greater evil? To hurt someone, to cause harm to prevent harm, or to do nothing and thereby allow it?_"

"You already know my answer to that," Kory answered, even though she got the impression that Raven wasn't actually looking for a reply.

"_I do. And perhaps it is the right one. In any case, it should not matter. I am damned already; perhaps I should_-"

Kory felt her frown deepen. This was exactly the sort of thing they'd wanted to avoid.

"Raven," she interrupted firmly, "you are not-"

"_Damned_?" Delicate eyebrows arched sceptically, but the eyes beneath them flashed with something very akin to anger but a heartbeat away from despair. "_I spoke the truth. I wandered this world and others these past years not because I wished to, but because there was nowhere for me to go. I am too good for Hell, but Heaven will not take me_-."

"-Raven-"

"-_due to my parentage. I was damned in the moment I was conceived_."

Kory let out her breath in a short, frustrated sigh. For all her talk of it through the days and years, Raven had never actually been one to allow herself to be ruled by 'destiny' - not willingly, anyway. She'd always fought it, tooth and nail, with determination and quiet ferocity. And, while she'd lost several battles along the way, leaving them all with the scars to prove it, she'd ultimately won the war. Her father was dead, she was free, not only from him but from those in Azarath who'd so abused her trust and left her permanently damaged.

She would fight this, and the matter with Blood. What's more, with the Titans at her side, she would find a way to win in the end. She just needed to be reminded of that.

"You know I don't believe that," she said, firmly. As an afterthought, she half-turned, reaching out to place her free hand in the center of Raven's chest, ignoring the way she started away from the touch. "And I know you don't really either. You may not get to choose who your parents are, but you _do_ get to choose the person you become. And you've always chosen to be good."

Raven dropped her gaze to her lap, but Kory wasn't having any of it. She reached out, again ignoring the flinch, and grasped the girl's chin, forcing her to look upwards.

"_And we're here for you, no matter what_," she said as their eyes met once more, conveying the sincerity of that statement with heart and mind and voice. "_We love you_."

She'd honestly hoped the last would be too much for Raven to endure; enough, at least, to trigger tears and the release of all the unhealthy emotions she knew were building behind those purple eyes. It was, very nearly. The slender body trembled once more under her hands; eyes squeezed shut anew left two trails of saltwater down pale cheeks. But nothing more was forthcoming.

"_I... perhaps you are right_," Raven said finally, releasing her tension with another heavy sigh. When she opened her eyes again, they were clear. "_Perhaps I simply need more time. To meditate on it in a... less oppressive environment_."

"Time and space we can give you," Kory smiled, sensing that the moment had passed, and dropped her hand. She sensed, too, in that instant, just how much her own awareness and understanding had developed since the two of them had first met. If she pushed Raven any further, as she might once have done, she would simply be pushing her to withdraw further into herself. Humans, even part-humans like Raven, could be funny like that. So very different to her own people. "If you want to get outside a bit, there's the roof - the sunsets are something spectacular from up there. You're welcome to my garden as well. There's a grassy spot by the waterfall you might like for meditation."

"_I think I would like that_." The smile was slight, but genuine, touching her eyes. "_Thank you_."

"Don't mention it," she replied as she stood, glancing around the all but bare room. They'd need to go shopping for more than just clothes, by the looks. But that could wait until tomorrow, at least. "My room is right next door if you need me. Just come on in, any time."

"_I will_."

"And lunch is in an hour. If I don't see you there, I'll come and get you myself," she added over her shoulder as she started for the door.

"_Yes, Koriand'r_."

"Good."

" _Koriand'r_?" The empath's soft voice caught her just as she reached the doorway. She paused.

"Raven?"

"_Thank you. For everything. I... It means a great deal to me_."

"As I said, don't mention it. See you in an hour."


	2. Chapter 2

Not for the first time that day, Raven found herself staring at the stranger in the mirror. She had a smooth, heart-shaped face dominated by large purple eyes and pouting lips rather than the prominent cheekbones, arched eyebrows and high forehead of an oddly-shaped, hybrid skull. The build was wrong too - muscular, too broad across the shoulders and hips, too large in the bust, too short in the arms and hands and legs. This girl was a cheerleader, a fighter, not a dancer or gymnast.

And she was very human.

Raven wondered if that was a good or a bad thing. Like so much about her resurrection so far, it would probably prove to be both.

She ran her hands over her head, smooth as a newborn's, and found herself wondering, again not for the first time, if her hair would grow back and, if it did, what it would look like. It would be black at least, if her eyebrows were anything to go by. But the cultists had treated her scalp with the same acrid-smelling substance they used to treat their own-

Azar, after everything that had happened - after all the pain and horrors of the last weeks - she was worried about her _hair_! Granted, it had always been her one secret vanity, and the cool air was a constant reminder of its absence, but even so...

Perhaps she should have taken the headgear offered by Kid Flash.

She closed her eyes, leaning forward to meet her new reflection. Her forehead pressed up against the cool glass, the blood-red gem set there in turn pressing hard against her skull.

It was a source of constant, low-grade irritation against skin and psyche, like a mosquito bite or small blister. The heavens only knew how Sebastian had recovered it; she'd thought it destroyed along with her last body. However it had been accomplished, it had retained enough of her essence that he'd been able to use it as the focal point of the flesh ritual, and even managed to partially bind her soul-self to it. She was thankful that he had only been partially successful at the last; it was disturbing how easily he'd been able to control her while he had the gem in his possession. She would have to take great care to ensure that no-one she did not trust utterly realised that this could be done.

She wondered absently what would happen if the stone were destroyed. It might kill her - for a third time - or free her. Or it might do nothing at all, or do something else entirely. She couldn't know for certain unless she had more knowledge of the rituals Blood's followers had used to force her incarnation.

Certainly, something to ponder.

A sudden shout and a bang from nearby, strong enough to rattle the walls, interrupted her introspection. With it came a wave of outrage laced with impending fury from a very familiar source: Koriand'r.

She allowed herself to be drawn towards it, quickly, and left her room for the first time since agreeing to stay in the Tower, feeling awkward in unaccustomed and ill-fitting clothes. True to her earlier words, Kory's room proved to be the very next one down the hallway. The door was open and Raven cautiously peered inside.

"Uh-oh," said a sudden voice at her elbow and bright presence in her mind. She spared a glance over: the new Kid Flash.

The scene that greeted them in the exposed room was one of utter devastation. The dresser was upended, the now broken mirror along with it, and a good portion of Kory's impressive wardrobe had spilled out onto the floor, much of it in tatters. The bed was rent in twain and gouged deeply by bite and claw marks. There were feathers and fluff and shreds of cloth everywhere, including mid-air, raining down like so much mutlicoloured snow. And, in the middle of it all whirled a madly barking white dog, dodging starbolts being thrown by six feet and four inches of furious, swearing, golden-skinned Tamaranean woman.

Were she anyone else, she might have found the scene amusing. Certainly, Kid Flash found it to be so, though his humour was, for some reason, liberally laced with an anticipatory schadenfreude that wasn't entirely pleasant. As it was, any feelings of her own that she might have had in reaction to the scene were promptly overwhelmed, drowned out by the primal fear of the dog and, above all else, the overwhelming anger radiating from Koriand'r.

Azar, she'd forgotten just how strongly Kory experienced emotions! Even years of living among comparatively restrained humans had done little to temper the strength of the alien's feelings. To Raven's senses, Koriand'r burned with a fury that was so strong and pure and invigorating that she couldn't help but reach out for it, much as you might move your hands closer to the fire for warmth on a cold winter's night. In reaching, however, she also began _taking_.

The sudden horror she felt was entirely her own.

She forcibly recalled the errant tendrils of her soul-self, running through a quick mental exercise designed to help her raise walls between her own pysche and the feelings of others. The exercise, one she'd learned and practiced since childhood, came sluggishly and imperfectly to mind; years spent without a body, without need for such things, had left her badly out of shape, so to speak. That would need to be rectified, and urgently.

Here and now, however, the damage had already been done.

Both Koriand'r and the dog stumbled to a halt, stripped of fear and fury. They looked at her quizzically, without any feeling other than a mild, restrained curiosity. She could feel, too, Kid Flash's puzzlement as well, much stronger, sharper, and his eyes upon her.

"_I'm sorry_," she heard herself whisper. "_I did not mean to-_"

Kory's eyes narrowed slightly in understanding, her curiosity replaced with an equally subdued concern.

"We'll talk later."

"Oh geeze," another voice and another bright point in her mind said, alighting beside her. Superboy. With him came the darker, more muted presence that she recognised as the third Robin. "Starfire, I am _so_ sorry! I, uh, I have _no_ idea how he got in there! Bad Krypto!"

She didn't need to be an empath to know that the teen was lying. Neither did Kory, who gave the teen a faintly unamused look.

"Connor," Kory said, voice level, almost disinterested, "I think it would be a very good idea if you removed your dog from my room. Now."

Superboy gulped and darted forward to seize the dog, bodily hauling it out of the room.

"And later on we will discuss this," Koriand'r concluded, stepping into the doorway and looking from 'master' to dog and back again, "_at length_."

The door shut firmly, leaving two humans, two Kyptonians and one half-human to stare first at it and then, somewhat awkwardly, at each other.

As she eyed the three teens, Raven cautiously sampled their emotional state, wary of causing a repeat of the incident moments before. Amusement, still, from Kid Flash and, surprisingly, from Robin, though he worked hard not to show it. He struck her immediately as more serious than either Richard or Jason. Superboy was overwhelmingly relieved at an easy escape, but also projected undertones of annoyance towards the dog and intimidation towards Koridand'r. The last, she had to admit, was not uncommon feeling to be engendered by the alien princess. Awe, admiration and, to Raven's perpetual discomfort, lust often followed in her wake too.

Robin was first to break the silence.

"That went well."

"Huh, yeah." Superboy scratched the back of his head. "She took that a lot better than I expected."

"What _were_ you expecting?"

"A royal ass-" he paused, eyes flicking towards Raven, "uh, a real chewing-out."

"I think you can thank Raven," Kid Flash chimed in. "Starfire was totally going to fry Krypto, but then she did something, and they both stopped."

She could feel three sets of eyes upon her, two curious, one suspicious, all slightly wary, and found herself fervently wishing for her cloak and its concealing shadows. She disliked feeling so... exposed.

"You forced them to calm down?" Robin said, almost more a statement of fact than actual question.

"_In truth_," she began slowly, recalling the sequence of events, _"I am not certain what I did or how. I must re-learn my powers. Whatever it was, I do not intend for it to happen again._"

It was close enough to the whole truth to pass as it, and seemed to be enough for Superboy and Kid Flash for the short term, though Robin's suspicion was largely unabated. No doubt Richard or the Batman had fully briefed him on her history. There was nothing she could do about that, save be herself.

Whoever that was.

She sighed inwardly, and sought a safer topic. Her eyes lit anew upon the white dog, sitting on its haunches. It paused mid-ear scratch when their eyes met.

She turned to Superboy.

"_This is your dog_?"

"Huh? Krypto?" All eyes turned to the dog, which cocked its head to the side quizzically at the sound of his name, leg still cocked. "Kind of. Actually, he's Superman's, but I'm supposed to watch him. Or something." The broad shoulders shrugged.

"_I see_."

She gave this, and the events of the last few minutes, due consideration.

"_I can help you, if you wish_."

"Help me?"

"_Manage him. Perhaps train him._"

"You can do that?"

She reached out again, still cautious, to sample the dog's emotional state in greater detail, as much as she could given his present, artificially subdued psyche. It was always easier with animals: fewer but stronger feelings, fewer layers, less nuance. "_He is an energetic and intelligent animal. Confinement makes him restless and bored. I very much doubt you will be able to leave him in Koriandr's room unattended during your next excursion_."

"Not if he doesn't have a death wish, anyway," Kid Flash said, _sotto voce_ but grinning widely.

"_It has been my experience that it is generally unwise to antagonise Koriand'r_," she conceded seriously, sparing a glance at the wild-haired teen. So unlike Wallace; if this Robin was a darker counterpoint to Richard, this Kid Flash was certainly a brighter reflection of his mentor. Turning back to Superboy she continued: "_I can help you find ways to keep him occupied, and means of discipline him that will not harm him, but he will respect_."

"You're an empath, right? Can't you, just, well..." Superboy gestured vaguely towards Krypto and back to Raven.

She saw the rest of his unfinished question immediately: couldn't she just make the dog obey him, couldn't she just _make_ Krypto behave? The intent underlying it was not malicious - curiosity at best and a desire to avoid work at worst - but the question was dangerous all the same. Her friends would know better than to ask, to tempt her so. To bend a dog, a mere _animal_ to her will would be less than trivial. But then if she looked to the 'master'... The effort to break him would be only slightly more, and the servant she would gain would be an ideal stepping stone -

She blinked, and the moment, the thought, mercifully passed. But the demon was stirring now, its slumber of years abruptly ended. She could not deny it, only acknowledge it, hopefully control it.

"_No_."

"But-"

"No. _ And do not ask me again_," she reiterated firmly, the force of her refusal actually taking them aback. She sighed, and took care to soften her tone. "_Krypto is in need of exercise. We can start now, if you wish._"

"Uh, sure. Outside?"

A spark of immediate interest and enthusiasm flared from Krypto at the word, and he bounded to his feet, looking up at the group expectantly.

"_I think that would be wise_."

"Maybe the roof though. The further away we are from Starfire's garden the better."

"_Very well_." Then her brain caught up with her ears and her other senses. "_What happened in the garden?_"


	3. Chapter 3

Lunch in the Tower proved to be an unusually quiet affair. The adrenaline-high from a successful and challenging mission had officially worn off, and the reality of an entire night spent in the field was starting to catch up with everyone: even Robin was caught surreptitiously yawning around his sandwich and third mug of coffee. In fact, only two out of the group weren't suffering from the malaise: Krypto and Raven.

Krypto, all but recovered from Raven's inadvertent tampering, bounded from Titan to Titan to Titan in a futile attempt to solicit further play or, failing that, food. More than once he'd had to be shooed down from the table where the smorgasbord was laid out, eventually prompting Superboy to remove him to the pool room. It was not, to Raven's mind, an ideal solution. On the other hand, over the course of the training session she'd been forced to add 'stubborn' and 'mischievous' to her mental list of Krypto's personality traits.

As for Raven herself... the word that immediately came to mind was 'ravenous'. Far more than she had ever thought possible, for she had never been, by any stretch of the imagination, a big eater. But the smell of food hit her like a brick the moment she entered the kitchen; meat, mainly, but also warm bread, and olives, fruit salad, cheese and any number of other things her nose remembered as being delicious and her stomach suddenly demanded having. Bread and water were all she had been permitted while imprisoned, all of it made so foul by the ever-present reek of blood and corruption that she'd been unable to consume it more often than not.

There had been so very much blood. She could still see it when she closed her eyes, feel its taint upon her skin, feel the stone shackles about her wrists...

Smell and taste had been lost to her with her last body. She had certainly not welcomed their return while so held captive, serving, as they did, only to further her torment. But, here and now, she realised that she had honestly missed them, and so very many of the things associated with them. Like cheese. She had missed cheese, in all of its many varieties. And ripe, sweet tomatoes. And was that _mango_?

Her mouth had actually started watering.

She packed away her first sub in record time, ploughed through the second with little more in the way of decorum and consumed the third at a more sedate pace in between jokes from Garfield about 'hollow legs' and questions from Cassandra, the new Wonder Girl, about her vegetarianism. She was spoon-deep in a heaping bowl of yoghurt-drenched fruit salad when the teenagers began to depart, heading to their homes scattered across the country.

It was strange to think of the Titans as a weekend-only activity, undertaken by a group not even residing in the area. Admittedly, the Titans had always had lives outside of the Tower: there were apartments to rent, after all, educations and romances to pursue, jobs to hold down, estates to manage... Even she, least likely of them all, had developed a life after a time, and developed, too, a deep appreciation for the city and people of New York as a result. University, charitable works, healing... And then there were all of the cafes, the bakeries, all the great vegetarian eateries that had been a series of revelations to a girl raised in seclusion in a temple: Gaylord or Souen in in Manhattan, or that tiny little Hare Krishna outpost in the East Bronx she'd discovered quite by accident, where the food was free and filling, and the philisophical debates most engaging...

But she had, by and large, actually lived in the Tower. And most of the others lived in or around the city itself and, in any case, were in and out of the Tower so frequently that, at the time, she felt that they may as well have stayed there as she did and been done with it. They had ties to the Tower and to the city, and were always on call, not just at weekends. _And_ they'd never bothered with having 'mentors' about the place. Indeed, she'd originally selected them not only because they had complementary personalities that would gel as a team, but because they were confident enough to stand without backup under unimaginable pressure.

She reflected, by no means for the first time, that she had chosen very well indeed.

When she chanced to remark upon the younger team's departure and the 'weekends only' arrangement, Victor shrugged.

"Times change," he said as he and Kory began to clear away the remains of lunch, declining Raven's immediate offer of assistance. "Kids today don't get as much freedom. It's not like it was when Dick and them all started out, or even when we all got together."

"Hey, I was running with the Doom Patrol around the same time Dick first donned the short pants," Garfield reminded them through a mouthful of apple, his affront at his best friend's faulty memory primarily - but not entirely - an affectation. "But Vic's right. It's different now. It's gotten all political while you've been, uh, gone."

"_Political_?"

"'Kids in capes'," the changeling said, and Raven got the impression he was quoting something, perhaps headline news.

"There's more and more of 'em each year," Victor confirmed. "Half the time they come out of nowhere, no support structure, no mentor or anything, no clue, wanting to 'fight the good fight'."

"And the public loves them - right up until they wind up dead on page one. Real hotbutton issue. And then, well," Gar's thoughts abruptly swooped down into sadness, "Donna was killed. "

Victor nodded, but she could feel his sorrow, and that of Korriand'r's, surging forward at the mention of the Amazon's name. Raven's own grief was surprisingly sharp; she had not been present for that fateful battle, and her essence had been captured by Sebastian not long after, leaving her little time to mourn the loss of such a dear friend.

"It hit everyone hard," the cybernetic man said quietly. "And it became a... catalyst. A rallying point. Half the community wanted to ban teens from forming their own teams, or even from being heroes altogether."

"Stupid idea," added Gar. "It'd just mean kids meeting without _any_ sort of guidance or supervision."

"Superman thought so too. Turns out he's not a big believer in wrapping kids up in cotton wool."

"Yeah, but Big Blue's idea of a solution was to set up some kind of superhero Boy Scouts for them instead. Adult leaders, weekly meetings, lots of training - I think he was even talking about merit badges at one stage."

"I started there and toned it back as much as I could," Victor continued, relieving Raven of her now-empty bowl. "Weekly meetings - sure - and training. Maybe the odd lecture. Adult supervision too. But as little of all that as possible."

"One of the best things about being a Titan was we didn't have to keep looking over our shoulders for someone else's approval. It was _our_ place, _our_ team, _our_ friends. Mento, Batman, Wondie - whoever? Didn't matter."

"We can give them that freedom here," Kory chimed into the discussion for the first time. "Freedom that the League can't or won't let them have. Freedom _from_ the League."

"Freedom to be themselves and work out what kind of hero the really want to be. There's a lotta pressure on these kids to become the junior JLA. But they don't have to. Not if they don't want to. And if we could pull this off with these kids, show that it works with kids who _have _experience already_, _we could branch out and start bringing in the kids who really need it. Ones without big name backing."

"_You have given this a great deal of thought_," Raven said quietly when Victor had finished speaking.

"Of course we have," Gar responded immediately. " Dotted i's, crossed t's, everything. Vic had to sell it to _Batman_, let alone Big Blue. And Kory had to take it up with Diana, though," he added as an afterthought, "that didn't really go so well. "

"_Are you sure, then, that my presence here is wise? I am... actively distrusted by many in the League._" She had no right to compromise potentially important work; if the situation really were that delicate... She was distrusted for good reason.

Garfield, to her surprise, actually grinned at her.

"Our space. Our team._ Our __friend_s. You're the perfect example of that for the kiddies. And if the League doesn't like that it, well, then they can go take a flying leap."


	4. Chapter 4

Raven knew that she should at least try to meditate. As the incident with Kory and the dog had demonstrated, her control was shaky at best, and to say that her focus was poor was as saying the sky, perhaps, held some stars. It was a situation that had to be rectified, and urgently; rigorous meditation was the only way she knew that had any real chance of success. And yet... And yet she couldn't quite bring herself to leave the comfort of the couch.

She had one to herself, by choice, curled up in the corner farthest from the television screen. She'd originally tried sitting cross-legged upon it in an attempt to begin acclimatising this body to her favoured meditation posture, but had been forced to stop when the protests of her back and thighs became too much. Her powers were not the only thing that needed retraining, it would seem. Kory had the couch opposite, lounging across its entire length with boneless ease, while Victor and Garfield shared the central one between them. Feet propped up on the coffee table holding the detritus of the night's dinner, the two bickered amiably with each other about anything and everything that came to mind.

She herself had given up trying to follow the plot of the current program even before the first break for advertisements. Apparently it revolved around the exploits of a large group of people who had become stranded together on a deserted tropical island somewhere. From what she could gather, they were in rather dire straits, in particular running low on vital supplies. And yet, rather than work together, or, indeed, rather than doing anything at all productive, the group members spent most of their time pointlessly arguing with each other about who should be in charge.

And this, supposedly, was entertainment.

There were times when she honestly believed that she would never truly understand the world of her mother's birth.

Still, it was pleasant enough way to pass the evening, and the very banality of the scene was a balm against the horrors of the past days and weeks. She was safe, for now, and in the company of three people for whom she cared very deeply, and who, despite what she was and had done, despite _everything_ still cared for her, even had some strange measure of _affection_ for her. And they were happy...

She closed her eyes, basking as much as she dared in their contentment, and, when she felt herself drifting, did not resist.

"Hey Rave," Gar began as the credits rolled, "I was thinking we could do some shopping tomorrow, pick up some stuff that's a bit more veggie-friendly and maybe hit that new-age shop I was talking about. Whatdayasay? Raven?"

When no answer was forthcoming, he peered out from around the bulk of his friend, eyes alighting on the now slumbering figure. A pillow clasped tightly to her chest, the very, very faintest hint of a smile graced her lips.

"Awe, ain't that cute." He nudged his friend in the ribs, and then surreptitiously rubbed his elbow. "Plum tuckered out."

"Been a long day," Vic rumbled. "Longer for her."

"Yeah. Huh." He paused, mid-rub, as a new thought occurred to him. "'Cute' and '_Raven_'. Two words I never thought I'd use in the same sentence."

"Be nice," Kory ordered, lobbing a pillow at him with one long arm.

"I am! You've got to admit, though, that this whole thing is a bit weird. And I know weird."

"'course you know weird, green genes. You see it every time when you look in the mirror."

"Oh hardy-har, tin man. Seriously, though, it's just that, well," he looked over at Raven and back up to the other two, "I just wonder if there isn't something else going on."

Vic shrugged.

"Probably. There usually is with her. But at least she's talking to you about it." This last comment was directed towards Kory.

"For now," the alien princess conceded, yawning. "I'm not so sure about the future though. We mayl have to work at it." Another glance in Raven's direction, a shrug, and she stood. "I think I'm going to turn in. See you tomorrow."

"G'night."

"Night, Kory."

"I think that might me too," Gar said once Kory had departed. "I'm beat."

"Long day, as I said."

"Isn't that the understatement of the year." He paused once more. "Should we wake her?"

"Hmm?" Both men glanced over at the other, still occupied couch. "No, leave her be."

"You sure? I mean, that thing _looks_ comfortable enough, but I fell asleep on it the other night in the middle of that Marilyn Monroe marathon and woke up with _the_ worst crick in my neck. Lasted all day too."

Rather than take advantage of such a golden opportunity for further good-natured ribbing, Vic frowned and drummed his fingers on the armrest.

"I'll take care of it."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Go catch some z's."

"You too. Or recharge or whatever."

When Gar had gone, Vic shut off the tv and busied himself clearing away the takeout containers and utensils that constituted the remains of dinner. When he returned to the living room, it was with a blanket, which he draped carefully over the sleeping Titan.

"Sleep well, kiddo," he said quietly. "Have some sweet dreams for once."

She did not stir.


End file.
